Slow-cooking meat in a fire pit is perfect for parties. It not only can make dining more fun, but, since the process works particularly well with large pieces of meat, such as whole turkeys, hams or roasts, it also can feed large numbers of people. Here's cook tender, juicy, flavorful meat in a fire pit that will make the hours-long process well worth the wait. Add this to my Recipe Box.
Instructions
1. Dig a pit in the ground about 1 foot larger on all sides than the meat you are cooking. For example, if you are cooking a 1-by-1-foot turkey, the pit needs to be 3-by-3 feet. The pit should be about 3 feet deep to accommodate the coals.
2. Line the pit with stones or bricks. Choose stones that are at least fist-sized. The stones retain and even out the heat from the coals. Avoid stones that have a heavy mineral salt content, as the heat will cause them to crack or explode, ruining your meal and possibly causing injury.
3. Place about a foot of the hot coals on top of the stones or bricks. You can preheat the coals in a grill, or build a wood fire in the pit and let it burn down for about an hour.
4. Flavor the meat you are going to cook. A lot of people prefer to cook whole pigs in a fire pit, Hawaiian style. You can also cook whole birds, or large pieces of meat. Season the meat using salt, pepper and any spices you like.
5. Wrap the meat in a few layers of foil and then in wet cotton cloth, such as burlap. To keep the meat moist, you can also wrap it in many layers of banana leaves, if you have them. Make sure dirt cannot get into the wrapped meat.
6. Place the wrapped meat on a wire rack in the pit, or wrap the meat with several pieces of wire that reach to ground level to make removal easy. Make sure hot coals are touching the foil packages on all sides.
7. Cover the meat with 4 to 6 inches of dirt to starve the coals of oxygen. The coals will burn hot, but you will not risk catching your meal on fire. Typical cooking time for a whole bird is four hours. A whole pig takes about 12 hours. This is a slow-cooking method, so be patient. The meat is unlikely to be overcooked, since it is wrapped in foil and burlap, or leaves.
8. When the meat is done, pull it out by the wire or a shovel.
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